​Afghan atheist granted UK asylum on religious grounds

An Afghan man has apparently become the first atheist to secure religious asylum in the UK. The Home Office let him stay in the country as he could face the death sentence because of his views on religion, report British media.

The 23-year-old, who preferred to remain unidentified for fear of
being hunted by his ethnic community in Britain, was brought up
as a Muslim. He initially demanded asylum in 2007 at the age of
16 on the grounds of a conflict involving his family in
Afghanistan. Though his claim was rejected by the British Home
Office, he was granted a discretionary leave in the UK until 2013
under rules to protect unaccompanied children. During his
six-year stay in England, he eventually became an atheist.

His fears of being rejected and persecuted became more evident
after attending his friend’s wedding in Pakistan, according to
evidence presented to the Home Office.

“You cannot sit and eat with people who are not Muslim,”
people at the wedding told him. He was “shocked” by such
an attitude. In Afghanistan, people’s reactions towards his
religious views could be even worse, he says.

His case was taken up by Kent Law Clinic of the University of
Kent, a partnership between students, solicitors and barristers
who provide public service for those who need legal advice and
representation but cannot afford to pay for it.

The lawyers from the clinic helped the ex-Muslim to present his
case to UK Home Office under the 1951 Refugee Convention which
protects people from persecution for reasons of race, religion,
nationality or political opinion.

The man could face a death sentence under Sharia law as he is
regarded as an apostate “unless he remained discreet about
his atheist beliefs,” said the lawyers. According to the
submission, the man’s “lack of religion causes him to live in
fear … of being returned to a country where religion is both
prevalent and dominant in society.”

“We argued that an atheist should be entitled to protection
from persecution on the grounds of their belief in the same way
as a religious person is protected," said Claire Splawn, a
second-year law student at the University of Kent who prepared
the case.

"The decision [to grant asylum] represents an important
recognition that a lack of religious belief is in itself a
thoughtful and seriously-held philosophical position," said
Sheona York, a clinic solicitor and the supervisor of the case.

The case of Abdul Rahman, an Afghan man who was put on trial and
faced death in 2006 for becoming a Christian, was set as an
example. Rahman was then released and given asylum in Italy.
Someone of no religious faith at all could face even greater
danger in Afghanistan than a member of a minority religion such
as Christianity, argued the lawyers.

The UK Home Office wouldn’t comment on this case, saying only
that “the UK has a proud history of granting asylum to those
who need it and we consider every application on a case by case
basis."

The British Humanist Association dubbed it as “the first case
of asylum granted in UK under Refugee Convention on the basis of
atheism.”

“Freedom of belief for humanists, atheists and other
non-religious people is as important as freedom of belief for the
religious, but it is too often neglected by western governments.
It is great to see Britain showing a lead in defending the human
rights of the non-religious in the same way,” said Andrew
Copson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association and
first vice president of the International Humanist and Ethical
Union.

Several countries follow the 1951 Refugee Convention. Australia
is one of those to accept atheism as a ground for asylum for
those persecuted for their religious views in Afghanistan.
However, US authorities reject the asylum claims of that kind
saying that “atheists do not have defined beliefs or
practices for purposes of American asylum regulations.”